The Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, South Africa

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The Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, South Africa

Where people of all religions and none come to experience peace and tranquility. GP co-ordinates:
-30.10436S
30.04625E
(2)

18/09/2026

Join our retreat. Please email [email protected] for more information and to make your reservation.

17/09/2026

Zen Pen Words, Being And Breath
Teacher: Dorian Haarhoff
Cost: 2 days accommodation + R400 surcharge
Dates: Friday 16 October 2026 - Sunday 18 October 2026

I wait for the mountains and rivers to reclaim their shapes.
There is no light in the deepest hours of the night.
Yet, I know you are there in the depth of the night. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

In this writing retreat amid nature, we explore the bond between writing and meditation. We write and meditate on the many changes and transformations we experience as we journey along the river of our lives. We consider how creativity steadies the boat and how writing helps us dip the oars into dark water so we may navigate the river safely.

Dorian Haarhoff is a writer, story-teller and mentor. Passionate about developing innate creativity and imagination, he believes in the power of stories to spread loving-kindness, to grow the moment and bring healing. His retreats are based on his text, The Writer’s Voice.

He draws inspiration from zen, mythology, narrative therapy, creation spirituality, the new physics and eco- and Jungian psychology. A former Professor of English (Namibia) Dorian has facilitated over 25 retreats at the BRC, his spiritual home. His poems appear in the BRC cookbooks, Quiet Food and The Cake the Buddha Ate.

Please email [email protected] for more information and to make your reservation.

16/09/2026

Our Christmas and New Year retreats are already starting to fill. Book soon.

15/09/2026

Riva Hirschowitz began practising yoga as a way to de-stress - like many who come to yoga. Yoga has become a way of life for her, both in her practice and in teaching. She regularly attends classes and workshops with international senior Iyengar teachers as well as classes at the Iyengar Institute in Pune, India (with Geetaji, Prashantji and Abhijata Iyegar).

Join Riva's retreat:

Iyengar Yoga : Moving into stillness
Teacher: Riva Hirschowitz
Cost: 2 days accommodation + R400 surcharge
Dates: Friday 02 October 2026 - Sunday 04 October 2026

In our fast paced lives, we need the time to find quiet and calm. With this quiet we find the resilience to face the world and all that comes our way. Through Asana (posture), pranayama (breath control) and meditation practice as well as periods of silence, we give ourselves time to uncoil and find space mentally and physically. This space gives breath to our emotional well-being.

This retreat is suitable for yoga students who would like to experience Iyengar yoga and those who would like to deepen their understanding and practice of Iyengar yoga.

Please email [email protected] for more information and to make your reservation.

14/09/2026

Join our upcoming retreat:

Family Systems Constellations – Explore The Systems To Which You Belong
Teacher: Christel and Erik Andersen
Cost: 3 days accommodation + R350 surcharge
Dates: Monday 28 September 2026 - Thursday 01 October 2026

During this retreat we will experience the larger systems that shape and support human life. Through Family and Systems Constellations, we will explore how family patterns, loyalties, and inherited dynamics continue to influence our relationships, choices, and inner life. This allows us to see patterns clearly, and to emerge with a deeper sense of connection to ourselves and our ancestors.

Alongside this, we will draw on nature-based systems and rhythms, the African medicine wheel, cycles, symbol, art, and music. The intelligence of the natural world, reminds us that healing and orientation arise through rhythm, relationship, and attentive presence. Together, these two streams meet in a larger supportive holding field.

Please email [email protected] for more information and to make your reservation.

13/09/2026

There is no better place to reboot and rejuvenate and to get in touch with nature than in the beautiful, tranquil spaces of the BRC.

Share the Buddhist Retreat Centre with friends and family you love, and gift a retreat to them. BRC vouchers are available. Contact us: [email protected]

11/09/2026

Awaken The Lioness
Teacher: Prof Leonina Kaestele
Cost: 2 days accommodation + R400 surcharge
Dates: Wednesday 14 October 2026 - Friday 16 October 2026

This workshop is an invitation to reconnect with your inner strength, clarity, and self-trust.

The lioness symbolizes power, intuition and authentic leadership. Through Guided imagery, nature-based rituals and reflective dialogues you will explore what nourishes your strength, what you are ready to release, and how you wish to shape your path forward.

The retreat draws on biophilia - our deep connection to the living world - and uses the lioness as a symbol for empowering yourself. By reconnecting with your inner wisdom, you gain access to inner resources such as courage, resilience and inner stability. This workshop is for women who feel the call for change, who sense that more is possible and wish to move toward a good future with clarity and trust.

Prof Leonina Kastele is a lecturer, therapist, and educator. She works internationally and offers classes and workshops on imagery, counseling, self-development, and future-oriented change, with a focus on inner growth and the power of imagination.

Please email [email protected] for more information and to make your reservation.

10/09/2026

Upcoming Retreats with Lisa Firer:

Somatic Movement - Ease of Being - To Release Chronic Stress and Tension
Cost: 2 days accommodation + R400 surcharge
Dates: Friday 18 September 2026 - Sunday 20 September 2026

Join Lisa for a deeply relaxing and nourishing weekend of mindfulness-based Clinical Somatic Movement. Exploring the communication between the brain, nervous system and muscular-fascial systems, we will learn about pandiculation, nature's way of releasing built-up tension from the body. Slow down and learn gentle practices to help release chronic muscle tension that underlie pain and stress in body and mind. Develop your inner awareness and bring comfort and ease to your body. Basic Mindfulness practices and meditations will be woven throughout the retreat. This weekend is suitable for everyone and will meet you where you are. All bodies welcome!

Soft Body, Clear Mind, Open Heart : Somatic Movement For Relaxation
Cost: 2 days accommodation + R400 surcharge
Dates: Friday 25 September 2026 - Sunday 27 September 2026

“Whenever your heart space, your mind space, and your body space are all present and accounted for at the same time, you can experience pure presence, a moment of deep inner connection with the pure, gratuitous Being of anything and everything. It will often be experienced as a quiet leap of joy in the heart.” -Richard Rohr

Our bodies, minds and hearts are the instruments of perception through which we experience the world. When those are open, spacious and free, our experience of life is marvelous and joyful.
This weekend we will explore a variety of modalities to see where we might be contracted, clouded, or tight in body, mind and heart and gently open and expand into their true nature.

These include gentle somatic movement for releasing tensions in the body, exercises for developing nervous system flexibility, yoga nidra deep rest practice, mediations that focus on the 3 centers and music and poetry inspired by these. We will look at the role of stress in developing tensions and how to work skillfully with stress.

Through somatics, movement, mindfulness, music and poetry, let’s tune and harmonize the instruments of body, mind and heart.

Please email [email protected] for more information and to make your reservation.

09/09/2026

As winter softens into spring, we invite you for three days and two nights of dedicated Zen practice at the Buddhist Retreat Centre.

Inspired by the spirit of a traditional Zen sesshin, this midweek zazenkai offers an opportunity to settle deeply into stillness, simplicity, and wholehearted presence. A zazenkai is an informal gathering of practitioners who commit to sitting together with sincerity and quiet resolve.

The emphasis is on silent practice rather than instruction, allowing participants to discover the clarity that emerges through sustained sitting. It offers a taste of sesshin without the intensity of a full week, creating a spacious yet disciplined container for meditation, silence, and contemplation.

Here in the valley, we honour this tradition by returning, again and again, to the breath, the body, and this very moment. Each moment of practice is unique and complete, asking nothing of us except our willingness to be present. Whether you are new to Zen or have an established meditation practice, you are warmly welcome.

Bring your breath, your body, and an open heart as we welcome the arrival of Spring together.

Nowhere Else To Be – A Spring Zen Retreat
Teacher: William (Shogan)
Cost: 2 days' accommodation + R350 surcharge
Dates: Tuesday 22 September 2026 - Thursday 24 September 2026

Please email [email protected] for more information and to make your reservation.

Address

The Buddhist Retreat Centre, P. O. Box 131
Ixopo
3276

Telephone

+27825793037

Website

http://www.brcixopo.co.za/

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